Robin Hood: Acting up
by emzigale07
Summary: One shot for my OC stories about Robin Hudson. Set over a year before Sell out, shows Robin and Georges relationship while at school. In an English lesson the pair read Romeo and Juliet, slight fluff.


**Disclaimer: I do not own the quotes from Romeo and Juliet!**

**Author Note: okay, I couldn't resist posting this, I've been working on it for a while and got the sudden urge to finish it today. I'm sorry I have jet to post chapter 26 of Out of time, but it's not finished yet. Hope this doesn't mess with your understanding of the plot too much. Set in Georges POV, this one shot takes place over a year before Sell out, during an English lesson at Locksdale Upper, where the pupils are reading Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, slight fluff piece designed to show the pairs relationship before Sell out. I'm crap at summaries, please read and tell me what you think. : )**

**Acting up**

**Locksdale Upper Class**

The school bell rang out shrilly and suddenly, echoing across the buildings and waking the pupils from their Friday afternoon slump, clearly calling for all pupils to carry on to their next and final lesson of the day. Gathering together my books and stuffing them into my rucksack I got to my feet just as my Geography teacher and form tutor Mr Andrews looked over his shoulder at the clock above the board.

"Quarter past two already?" Mr Andrews asked in a slightly confused tone, probably wondering where all the time had gone while he had been discussing tectonic plates and the earths crust, yeah, I wonder "You can leave now class, have a nice weekend and I shall see you Monday morning."

A few people muttered goodbyes as they hastily headed out the classroom doors, probably to get in some pre-lesson gossiping, I sighed and as I passed Mr Andrews I said "See you Monday Sir," he nodded but then seemed to remember something and motioned for me to stay a moment.

"Err George could I speak with you for a moment, I promise that it wont take long," he asked and I nodded hoisting my bag onto my shoulders as I did so "Mrs Watson told me that there was an err, disagreement between you and Robin in R.E today, do you want to tell me what that was about?"

I sighed inwardly; I had figured that was what this was going to be about, it had been the top gossip topic all day amongst my fellow year tens, and to be honest I didn't really want to discus it anymore, it was mortifying enough already, so I tried to get out of the inevitable conversation and said,

"It was nothing Sir, just a pointless argument."

"Mrs Watson said that it escalated into a class wide debate, she said that certain things were said and the debate turned into an argument which almost turned into a brawl;" he paused for a moment before he said "Alison Potter threw a glue stick at the back of Courtney Beverly's head." He said dryly and I suppressed a smile, that had been pretty funny.

"It was nothing Sir," I said still trying not to laugh as the image of Courtney's head swinging forward as the glue stick collided with it, was replayed over and over in my head "Robin and I had a disagreement and the rest of the class got involved, they took it too far."

Mr Andrews groaned and rubbed his forehead in frustration, we had had this conversation a million times by this point and I could pretty much predict what he was going to say "George, I fail to see what is the matter with you two, why do you hate each other so much?"

"I don't hate her," I said truthfully and shrugged at Mr Andrews, I may not hate her but she seemed to reserve a special kind of hatred for me. The incident in the R.E classroom was one of many such confrontations, and she seemed to jump at any excuse to bite my head off.

"What was the 'disagreement' about this time," Mr Andrews asked almost reluctantly.

"We are covering wealth and poverty in R.E" I said and Mr Andrews let out another groan, he knew where this was going, I felt like a grass for telling him but he would find out sooner or later "I wasn't paying attention and I was asked a question I didn't know the answer to, I guess the question was about poverty stricken places and my lack of response annoyed Robin as she shouted something about how I should be able to name a poverty stricken place, because my father…" I trailed off, I didn't like talking about what my father did for a living, it had nothing to do with me and I tried to think about it as little as possible, it seemed however to be Robin's favourite topic of conversation.

Mr Andrews didn't need me to finish my sentence, I was sure he could guess the rest of it and he just regarded at me with a peculiar look on his face, he then muttered something about the pair of us being the death of him before speaking again "so the rest of the class decided to express their opinions on this topic then I assume?"

"Yes Sir," I said, well, that was certainly one way of putting it, it had been more like open warfare than anything else, with the greater portion of my R.E class yelling at Robin about how she didn't know what she was talking about and then just generally insulting her, and then there was Robin and the small group of Have pupils, who seemed like Robin's followers to me, shouting about the injustice the people on the Southside endured. I just watched all of this, attempting to make myself as small as possible so that I wouldn't be dragged into the argument I had half started. Robin seemed to lose her place in the argument as well and as it started to turn violent I watched as her expression changed, it told me that she hadn't wanted this to happen, that this hadn't been her intention, she then tried to calm things down, only to make things worse by getting involved again. She fascinated me when she was like that.

Mr Andrews sighed, and then looked up at his clock again before turning back to me "You had better go or else you will be late for your next lesson, you, Robin and I will carry on this conversation in registration on Monday morning. I would ask you to tell her this but I really don't think we need another argument today."

"Yes Sir," I said relieved that I could finally leave "See you Monday Sir,"

Mr Andrews made a 'hum' noise in response and I headed out of the classroom, glad of the escape. Stepping into the busy corridor I unbuttoned the top button on my shirt and squeezed through the crowds of other pupils on my way to my next lesson. It was one of those rare spring days where it wasn't raining and the sun was beating down heavily on gloomy school, trying, unsuccessfully, to lighten the ever miserable mood that seemed to cling to the place. It was the warmest day of the year so far, though that hardly ment anything as there was still a slight chill in the air. I walked out of building one and was greeted by the warm sunlight but also by the wind that had picked back up again. As I walked to the building where my next lesson was I looked around me at the other pupils, all of them talking as they made their way about the school, all of the holding themselves as they felt the cold settle around them and immediately regretting not brining a coat, all of them alike in their navy blue uniforms, they all seemed the same to me. I bowed out of attempted conversations as I came across people I knew, I really wasn't in the mood for talking but people never seemed to be able to accept that, and soon I had quite a gathering walking along beside me. I never seemed to be able to find a moment to myself at this school, I supposed that it had something to do with who my father was, everyone wanted to get close to me so that I could help them get a leg up in the workplace, that was the secondary purpose of a school like this one after all, making useful contacts that would come in handy in later life. I looked to see who was following me, the whole of the rugby team by the looks of things, and their girlfriends, and not to mention a good portion of all the other high up the school food chain males. I didn't like how they all seemed to look at me like I was their leader, in the four years that I had known these people not one of them had ever made an attempt to get to know me, they just looked to me for direction which I reluctantly gave them. We shared none of the same ideals or beliefs; I was simply a convenient popularity booster with enough power to make a person a 'somebody' in this high-class school. I didn't like it, it made me feel uncomfortable and far too much like my father to have all of these people looking to me for leadership, but I could hardly turn them away, I was never short for company with things like they were. I imagined this was how it was for Robin, her small group of followers couldn't possibly be her friends, and it seemed to me that they saw themselves as rebels, rebels fighting a corrupt class system by siding with a Have Not girl who had already beaten the system by getting into the school in the first place. None of them cared about her or even their so called cause really because if they did they would have actually done something about it by now, rather than just running their mouths all the time.

"See you George," Jonathan, the son of one of my father's business partners and a member of the rugby team, said as he reached his classroom. He opened the door and went into the room, relieved I looked around to find that I was alone, all of the others having reached their classrooms while I was in my daze. With a small smile on my lips I walked down the corridor that I didn't remember walking to, and headed towards my English classroom at the bottom of it.

"Hi George," Courtney and some of her friends chorused as I neared them, I greeted them and tried not to laugh as the image Courtney being hit in the head re-entered my mind. Courtney however seemed to take my smile a different way and turned to her friends to giggle and squeal, I felt the smile leave me lips and a confused expression replace it, I would never understand that girl. Josh Harrison, Courtney's boyfriend, seemed to understand something I didn't and threw me a dirty look as he moved closer to his girlfriend. Ignoring them I dropped my bag from my shoulder and onto the floor, leaning against the wall I sighed and waited for Miss Harrison, our English teacher, who always seemed to be late even though there was nowhere really for her to have gone in the five minutes given to pupils to get from one class to another.

Trying to tune out the high pitched squeals of Courtney and her friends I glanced down the corridor, wondering what was taking Miss Harrison so long, the eccentric woman could only take so long. However, instead of seeing Miss Harrison floating down the corridor reciting poetry and spinning her keys around her finger, my gaze landed on a flustered looking Robin Hudson speeding away from Mrs Watson, who was standing with her hands on her hips and a hard expression on her face.

"And fasten that top button and tuck in your shirt Miss Hudson, you are not on the Southside anymore." Mrs Watson shouted after Robin, at the same time I spotted several Haves walking around in the same state of dress as Robin, all of whom walked in front of Mrs Watson without so much as a warning glance. Mrs Watson's words caused Robin to blush a deeper shade of red and a livid expression to cross her face at the completely uncalled for insult her R.E teacher had thrown her way. Robin raised her hands to her top button and held the button and the hole together, turning back to Mrs Watson with a expression that said 'happy now?' and carrying on down the corridor. As soon as her back was to Mrs Watson Robin removed her hand from her collar, revealing her two top buttons to still be undone, she tucked in the front of her blouse but made no movement to sort the back.

"I shall see you in detention on Monday night Miss Hudson," Mrs Watson called down the corridor, clearly not finished embarrassing Robin yet "we shall teach you what happens to Have Not's who disrupt classes."

"I'll bet you will you miserable old cow," Robin muttered as she passed me and Mrs Watson walked back into her own classroom.

Robin lent against the wall across from me, well aware that everyone was staring at her but trying to ignore it. I doubted she had spotted me yet, I was sure she had a few things she wanted to say to me, especially now. For some reason that I couldn't quite place, I felt… guilty, I don't know, I didn't think I had done anything wrong earlier on, in fact I was sure I hadn't, I think it was guilt and shame for the way everyone treat her. I felt guilty that all the other Haves felt it was their duty to make her life as miserable as possible, the teachers included, I felt guilty that she had to fight to get into this school when the head only had to read the surname on the top of my form before I was accepted. I think I empathised with her as well, I think that I understood how she felt, I was alone too, though not in exactly the same way she was, we weren't so different in that sense, and I wondered if she saw it too.

Running her hand through her hair Robin took deep breaths as she attempted to calm down, I watched her, willing her to look up and spot me, though not sure why. Robin nervously pulled on the bottom of her blouse, I could tell that it was a size too small for her, the other girls at school did the same thing, wore a blouse that was too small for them I mean, though not at all for the same reason. I guessed money was lacking in the Hudson household at the moment and immediately scolded myself for picking up on such a thing, it shouldn't matter. Robin straightened her navy blue and grey striped tie in an attempt to make herself look less haggard and frustrated, I noticed that the bottom of her tie was marred with black lines from where it had been christened **(A/N: see end for a definition of christening a tie),** I remembered my old year seven tie, the slip of fabric was spoiled from all the christening I had inflicted upon it, everyone had done it, though I figured Robin was regretting her eleven year old self's actions now as she could not get a new one. Taking her mobile from her bag Robin smiled, the first true smile I had seen on her face all day, it changed her features dramatically. I watched as her features softened, she began to type away on her keypad, clearly replying to whatever text had made her smile so much. Regarding her I found myself wondering what the text had said and also who had sent it, who could inspire such a reaction in her? As if feeling my gaze upon her Robin looked up, the smile slipped from her lips and her eyebrows knitted together. I took a breath to say something, I wasn't sure what, some sort of greeting I suppose, but my words and Robin's scowl were cut off by an airy voice from down the corridor saying,

"Romeo and Juliet,"

"Beg pardon Miss Harrison?" I asked as our eccentric English teacher floated towards us.

"Shakespeare Mr Baxter," she replied as she passed me, I cringed at her usage of my last name and I few of the others in our class looked up worriedly, as if half expecting to see my father standing there. I sighed, I had been in this class all year long and they still reacted like that, I turned away from the crowds and wasn't surprised to see Robin watching me "today we are carrying on with reading William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet." She said as she unlocked her classroom door, I had know as much, our class having read the whole of the first act and some of the second over the past week, I was more confused as to why she needed to announce it as she walked down the corridor.

Miss Harrison glided into her classroom, waving her hands enthusiastically as she tried to get a group of year ten chavs interested in Shakespeare. Yes, in answer to your question, she was slightly mad. I walked into the classroom and sat in my usual seat by the window to the left of the classroom, Robert Anderson one of my 'friends' dropped into his seat next to me, Robin sat beside a girl called Rose who was another one of her followers. We all took out our books and pens; though it had seemed unlikely we would need them, I then pulled out the text book copy of Romeo and Juliet I had bought earlier this year and set it down in front of me. Across the room Robin took out a perticuly battered looking copy of the play, which looked to be older than she was, she opened the book in an attempt to hide the ruined front cover and put a halt to the sniggers of the Haves closest to her, she had done the same thing the lesson before.

"Good afternoon my GCSE students," Miss Harrison greeted airily, oblivious to the sniggering of the class "as I told you last week we are reading the script of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, this is so that you will be able to get a good handle on it for your coursework, you might not be taking your exams until next year, but it is always a good idea to get the coursework out of the way as soon as possible. So if you would turn to the page number that I have written on the board we will continue from where we concluded last lesson."

The rest of the class and Miss Harrison searched for the appropriate page in the text book, I looked around, most of the more 'popular' members of the class were talking, only absentmindedly turning pages as they took advantage of what was essentially, a free lesson. I found the page and leaned back, despite how callous the other Haves were, they were right; this was to be an easy lesson, Miss Harrison would pick on a few pupils to read out the parts and get so caught up in the story that she would hardly notice what was going on around her, the lesson was sure to fly by.

"Now," Miss Harrison said as she found the page "act two scene two, now do I have any volunteers to be readers?"

As expected the whole of the class immediately sunk a little lower in their chairs, staring down at their textbooks to avoid making eye contact with Miss Harrison but refusing to look in any other direction for fear that she would pick on them for not paying attention.

"No?" Miss Harrison asked sounding disappointed yet again, you would think that she would expect this kind of reaction by now, but clearly not "well then I shall have to volunteer people then sharnt I? Errrr Josh, you read beautifully last lesson, you shall read the part Mercutio again, don't worry you don't say much, hum as we already working along these lines Arthur you can be our Benvolio again."

Slightly confused I turned back a page, act two scene two was the balcony scene, and it was all Romeo and Juliet, wasn't it? After flicking back a page I saw Mercutio and Benvolio's names, clearly Miss Harrison wanted to start a little further back so that everyone could get into part.

"I think I want two new pupils to read the parts of Romeo and Juliet today," Miss Harrison said and out of the corner of my eye I saw Julia Montgomery and Mathew Jones (last lessons Romeo and Juliet) heave a visible sigh of relief "Hummm, Robin," she exclaimed the last part and I saw Robin flinch "you will read the part of Juliet for me wont you?" Miss Harrison asked, Robin looked up, clearly not wanting to read.

I watched her; confident even in her reluctance, there was something about Robin, something that inspired a million different reactions in both pupils and teachers. As far as I could tell there was three different ways teachers reacted to Robin, firstly, they ignored her, some teachers at the school had decided that the best way to deal with a problem, such as an opinioned Have Not girl attending a strict Have school, was by ignoring it. Frankly these teachers were just ignorant, unused to speaking with people of a lower class than them and seeking to avoid trouble. Other teachers chose to act like the more cruel pupils, teachers like Mrs Watson made Robin and the other Have Not (a boy called Mark I think) lives hell, they picked on her wherever possible and pulled her up on every little thing. These teachers were disgusting; they treat her like a creature of inferior intelligence and lived for her mistakes. Then there were teachers like Miss Harrison and our from tutor Mr Andrews, they treated Robin as she should have been treated, exactly like everyone else. They didn't try to make her feel inferior and found her opinioned nature fascinating (Mr Andrews probably less than Miss Harrison considering the trouble Robin's opinions seemed to land her in). Teachers like Miss Harrison loved Robin because she always had something to say, class discussions were made easier by her presence (when she wasn't arguing) and she had this incredible ability to inspire others to join in.

"Come on Robin, please," Miss Harrison tried to coax and in the end a reluctant Robin agreed to read the part of Juliet. I watched her intently as she looked down at the textbook, seeing what she would have to read out, her cheeks pinked again and she pursed her lips. I smiled, act two scene two was a very romantic scene, it would be interesting to see how opinioned and argumentative Robin Hudson fared at reading Shakespeare.

"Something funny George?" Miss Harrison asked, bringing my attention away from Robin and back to her. Startled I just looked at her, she hadn't ment it as a threat, Miss Harrison wasn't that kind of teacher, she meant it as a general question and that was what made it so bad.

"Err no Madam," I replied swiftly, my gaze flicked to Robin who was now looking at me furiously, damn she thought I was laughing at her, well I had been, but not for the reason she thought. Shifting uncomfortably as the rest of the class looked at me; I averted my gaze and turned to face Miss Harrison, who was smiling all knowingly.

"Shame," she said still smiling "I suppose you'll just have to be our Romeo then instead."

My eyes widened, please tell me she didn't just say that, I thought desperately but it was clear that she had, the rest of the class erupted, either laughing or talking hurriedly. It was certainly no secret that Robin and I weren't exactly best friends, in fact she hated me, our arguments had become the stuff of Locksdale Upper Class legend and I was pretty sure all the staff was aware of our differences as well. Why did Miss Harrison have to do this to us? Robin turned to glare at me, like I wanted to do this! I wanted to shout at her but I knew it would do no good so I tried to get Miss Harrison's attention.

"Err," I started but Miss Harrison cut across me pretending not to hear.

"So Josh, if you would start please." She said and I groaned inwardly. Robert nudged my arm and laughed loudly in my ear, I gripped the sides of my chair tightly, using all my restraint not to turn around and punch the prat. The laughs and jeers of the class died down as Josh began to speak, feeling as though I was a criminal awaiting execution on death row, I stared down at my text book, here we go.

"If love be blind… love cannot hit the mark. Now will he sit under a m…. medlar tree, and wish his mistress were that kind of fruit. As maids call m…medlars, when they laugh alone. Romeo, that she were, O, that she were, an open et caetera, thou a poperin pear! Romeo, good night: I'll to my… truckle-bed; This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep: Come, shall we go?" Josh said clearly struggling with the Shakespearian, as he had last lesson, I wasn't sure why Miss Harrison described his reading as beautiful.

"Go, then; for 'tis in vain, To seek him here that means not to be found." Arthur said, speaking more fluently than Josh had, though this was probably because he had less to say, he was no more a stage actor than Josh was.

Miss Harrison read the stage directions to set the next scene, which was of course in Capulet's orchard; I took a deep breath and then read my lines,

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief, that thou her maid art far more fair than she: be not her maid, since she is envious; her vestal livery is but sick and green and none but fools do wear it; cast it off. It is my lady, O, it is my love! O, that she knew she were! She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that? Her eye discourses; I will answer it. I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks: Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven, having some business, do entreat her eyes to twinkle in their spheres till they return. What if her eyes were there, they in her head? The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, as daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven would through the airy region stream so bright that birds would sing and think it were not night. See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!" I read the lines and looked up, surprised to find the room silent, they had all been listening to me read, I hadn't really paid much mind to how much emotion I had been putting in, I simply read it the way my mother had all those years ago when she would read to me, I read it with as much emotion as I could muster.

I felt my cheeks redden when my gaze fell upon Robin; she was watching me with the most peculiar expression on her face, it was an expression I had never seen her wear before, her mouth was open slightly in shock and her emerald green eyes were dancing around in their sockets. Blushing at my humiliation I turned back to the text.

"Robin," Miss Harrison prompted and out of the corner of my eye I saw Robin start, as though she had forgotten where she was.

"Ay me!" she said breathily, still watching me with that strange look on her face.

Reacting to her words I carried on "She speaks: O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art as glorious to this night, being o'er my head as is a winged messenger of heaven unto the white-upturned wondering eyes of mortals that fall back to gaze on him

when he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds and sails upon the bosom of the air."

Robin cocked her head to the side, regarding me for a moment before she turned back to her text book and read "O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet." She spoke so softly, each word barely audible but as powerful as if she had shouted them, willing me to turn my head and look at her, this unfamiliar girl who had replaced the Robin who had hated me.

"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?" I quoted quietly, unsure of the silence in the room.

"'Tis but thy name that is my enemy; thou art thyself, though not a Montague. What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot, nor arm, nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man. O, be some other name! What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; so Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title. Romeo, doff thy name, and for that name which is no part of thee take all myself." She read, filling her words with the right amount of emotion, but still managing to sound absentminded, at least to me, it seemed as though she was trying to figure something out, as I was. What on Earth was happening here?

"I take thee at thy word: call me but love, and I'll be new baptized; henceforth I never will be Romeo." I said glancing out of the corner of my eye to see Robin watching me again. She was looking at me as though it was for the first time, as though she had never seen me before, I supposed she hadn't, it was very rare anyone saw me as I was.

"What man art thou that thus bescreen'd in night so stumblest on my counsel?" she read, the slight hint of accusation in her voice alerting me to the direction her thoughts were taking.

"By a name I know not how to tell thee who I am: my name, dear saint, is hateful to myself, because it is an enemy to thee; had I it written, I would tear the word." I replied looking up from the pages of the book to she Miss Harrison watching the two of us, a very soppy expression on her face.

"My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound: art thou not Romeo and a Montague?" She asked.

"Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike." I replied.

"How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore? The orchard walls are high and hard to climb, and the place death, considering who thou art, if any of my kinsmen find thee here." She said and I had to wonder how many times she had read this before, she sounded so comfortable talking in what was essentially a foreign language nowadays, oddly enough though, it seemed to suit her.

"With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls; for stony limits cannot hold love out, and what love can do that dares love attempt; therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me." I recited.

"If they do see thee, they will murder thee." Robin said, I could see her looking around; she was clearly as concerned by the classes silence as I was.

"Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye than twenty of their swords: look thou but sweet, and I am proof against their enmity." I said, trying to catch a glimpse of the time but failing as Robin spoke again, succeeding in distracting me and causing me to turn back to the book so as not to lose my place.

"I would not for the world they saw thee here." She said.

"I have night's cloak to hide me from their sight; and but thou love me, let them find me here: my life were better ended by their hate, than death prorogued, wanting of thy love." I quoted; I was watching Robin again, trying to read her now ever changing expressions.

"By whose direction found'st thou out this place?" she asked.

"By love, who first did prompt me to inquire; he lent me counsel and I lent him eyes. I am no pilot; yet, wert thou as far as that vast shore wash'd with the farthest sea, I would adventure for such merchandise." I replied my eyes fixing on her as she prepared to read the next section.

"Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face, else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek for that which thou hast heard me speak to-night fain would I dwell on form, fain, fain deny what I have spoke: but farewell compliment! Dost thou love me? I know thou wilt say 'Ay,' and I will take thy word: yet if thou swear'st, thou mayst prove false; at lovers' perjuries then say, Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo, if thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully: or if thou think'st I am too quickly won, I'll frown and be perverse an say thee nay, so thou wilt woo; but else, not for the world.

"In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond, and therefore thou mayst think my 'havior light: but trust me, gentleman, I'll prove more true than those that have more cunning to be strange. I should have been more strange, I must confess, but that thou overheard'st, ere I was ware, my true love's passion: therefore pardon me, and not impute this yielding to light love, which the dark night hath so discovered." She said, her voice never wavering and herself never stumbling over a word. I watched in awe as she recited that mere portion of Shakespeare and found myself so transfixed that I could only just bring myself to glance at my text and say,

"Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear that tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops—"

Her interruption was a little delayed, which made me think that maybe she was still watching me as I was watching her, I then dismissed the thought, unsure of why I would think such a thing.

"O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon, that monthly changes in her circled orb, lest that thy love prove likewise variable." She said, her voice sounding hurried and frantic as she spoke the first words late, but it then evened out as she was engrossed by what she was saying.

"What shall I swear by?" I asked.

"Do not swear at all; or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self, which is the god of my idolatry, and I'll believe thee." She said so softly that I found myself wondering what it would be like to have her speaking to me that way for real, and not for the purposes of a school lesson.

Opening my mouth to speak again I jumped as I was cut across by the shrill and unwanted ring of the school bell. I didn't speak and it seemed that no one else in the room was able to, I looked around, they all looked to be as enchanted as I had been, five seconds of the silence passed, I saw that Robin and Miss Harrison were also regarding the class with a look of disbelief. The spell they were under broke suddenly, as soon as the doors of the other classrooms were thrown open and noise could be heard in the corridors. Immediately the rest of the class began to gather up their belongings, gossiping and laughing, I envied how easy it was for them to shrug off the surreal feeling that had covered all in the classroom. Miss Harrison seemed to be freed as well, as she was clapping Robin's and my performance as the other pupils made their way to the door. I turned to face Robin, tuning out the rest of the class and Miss Harrison; I found her looking at me with the same stunned expression on her face that I undoubtedly wore.

"Oh that was beautiful, the two of you read beautifully," Miss Harrison gushed, and as if a switch had been flicked somewhere Robin instantly began to pack up her books, a little less swiftly and still in a daze I didn't the same. There was only Miss Harrison, Robin and I left in the classroom.

"I don't know if you two are aware of this," Miss Harrison said slyly, as though she were about to reveal a great secret "but the school is putting on a production of Romeo and Juliet, casting begins in a few weeks and I was wondering…"

"No!" Robin and I chorused suddenly, and probably a little too loudly. I turned to look at her; she was regarding me with a wide eyed expression, undoubtedly I wore the same look. She swiftly turned away and scooped up her bag. I started to think about it, Robin and I involved in a school production, I paused as the thought crossed my mind then pushed it aside. It would be too weird.

"Sorry Madam, I'm not really the drama type, maybe Julia and Mathew should go out for the parts." She said as she threw her bag over her shoulder.

"I'm afraid it's not something my father would approve of," I said, knowing that if something would upset my father (the big I am) then Miss Harrison wouldn't press it. I regretted saying it however when I glanced at Robin and saw that her customary scowl was back. I just had to bring up my father.

Miss Harrison looked disappointed "well if you are both sure, and there is nothing I can do to persuade you then I'm sure we can find someone else, though they would not be as good as you would have been."

"I'm sure they'll be more than better than we would have been." I said making a move towards the door "right Robin?"

"Of course," she said, pushing her chair under the table "like I said, I'm not the drama type. Err, see you next week Madam." She said before hastily heading for the door.

"See you next week Miss Harrison," I said before following after Robin.

"Have a nice weekend," Miss Harrison called half heartedly as we exited the classroom.

I heaved a sigh of relief, well, that had been a strange lesson. The corridors were now completely empty, even though it was only five minutes after the end of the lesson, sensible kids didn't hang around in the school longer than they had to. Following Robin, who was walking down the corridor a little way ahead of me, I tried to figure out what on Earth had been happening in that lesson. It didn't make any sense to me, and it had to be the most surreal thing I had ever been a part of. It was almost as if I had seen a whole different side to Robin Hudson, and in return, showed her another side of me. I wasn't sure why that felt so strange; I mean it was obvious that Robin wasn't a fiery, opinioned, pain in the arse all the time, she had family and friends that she could be her true self around. Maybe it was because it was something I was never ment to see, maybe that was why it fascinated me so much, or maybe it was because ever since my mum died, there had been no one I could really be me around. I had felt like myself around Robin, despite how the whole class had been watching us. I walked out of the building, the sharp gust of wind that hit me causing me to shiver violently. I didn't worry though, it was only a short walk to where I told my driver to park the car, I didn't like him driving up to the school gates, and I liked to pretend I was normal, even if it was only for a few minutes. The school gates came into view, and ahead of me I heard Robin shout,

"Will!"

I followed her gaze, the boy whose attention she had been trying to get, looked up and smiled upon seeing her. He was waiting for her just outside the school gates, dressed in a Locksdale Secondary School uniform, the burgundy that tie hung loosely around his neck tipping me off to which school he attended. He was clearly waiting for Robin to come out of school, Locksdale Secondary let its pupils out half an hour earlier than we did, because they started half an hour earlier on a morning. He rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt (getting a few dirty looks from the Have stragglers still leaving) and opened his arms to welcome Robin into a hug, she walked into his hug and I watched as he whispered something in her ear before ruffling her hair and releasing her, laughing loudly. She put her hand on her hip and clipped him around the back of his head in response to what he said and done; he straightened his jet black hair and grinned down at her fondly. I shifted uncomfortably and wondered if this Will guy was her boyfriend, they looked pretty close, but then again how many boyfriends ruffle their girlfriend's hair like that, that was more brotherly stuff wasn't it? Robin gave up on glaring at him and smiled instead, before turning for some reason, and spotting me standing a little way behind her. I started when I realised I had been standing there doing nothing but staring at her, I must look a right freak, the great George Baxter: Locksdale Uppers most eligible bachelor, and creepy stalker, I thought, all but hitting myself for my stupidity, before looking down and starting to walk again.

I managed to tear my embarrassed gaze from the concrete and noticed that Robin was still watching me, talking to the boy called Will as she did so; he wore a hard but thoughtful expression. I could only guess she was talking about me. Will made a move to leave and Robin nodded her affirmation, she then raised her hand and waved shyly at me. The half apologetic, half timid look was one I had never seen her, and I have to say, it made her look quite pretty. I smiled back at her and raised a hand to wave back, she smiled before turning to follow Will and probably head home. Still smiling I walked through the gates, I looked to my left and spotted the car a little way down the street, I shuddered, I had told him not to park so close. I then turned to my right, looking down the now almost disserted street, and spotted Will and Robin walking in the direction of the Southside. Her mid-length brown hair swinging as she made her way down the street, it was funny, from this distance she looked almost sweet, not a hint of her fire about her, at least not until you go closer.

"O! She doth teach the torches to burn bright." I said softly, quoting the famous line with a smile still on my face, I turned and headed for home.

**Author note: Sooooo, what do you think, I'm actually pretty anxious about this. Please, either put my mind at rest or tell me where I went wrong here, I'm not so brilliant at one shots. Understatement. : ) xxxx**

**Oh, and basically christening a tie, for those of you that don't know, is where you take your tie, bite it so that a bit of the treat comes out, and then pull that thread out of the tie, it reveals a black line where the coloured thread has been pulled out. It's something all year sevens at my school seem to do year after year after year. I don't know if every one else did it, but I know we did at our school. So yeah, it's probably not the best definition, but it was the best I could do. Hope it made sense. : )**


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